New York (CNN) -- A horse-drawn carriage accident Thursday afternoon on Midtown Manhattan's West Side sent two tourists and a carriage driver to area hospitals

This afternoon, a horse-drawn carriage carrying two passengers overturned after colliding with a car at 59th Street and Seventh Avenue.

It was a frightening journey for two people looking to take a carriage through Central Park.

Firefighters and police are responding to an accident involving a vehicle and a carriage horse at Columbus Circle near Central Park, authorities say.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Two tourists were about to go for a carriage ride when the horse broke free and took off.

After the accident, the brown and white horse, who was wearing a harness adorned with red velvet, was tied to a lamp post on the west side of Ninth Avenue between West 57th and 58th streets. The animal had bloody cuts on its nose. The horse appeared to panic and whinny, then fell on its side, then NYPD personnel led the animal to a truck.

A carriage horse collided with a car near Columbus Circle, overturned its carriage with at least two passengers inside, shed the carriage and ran free for at least four blocks before being captured by the police on Thursday afternoon, the authorities and witnesses said.

A biased rant from a driver caught on camera has prompted New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to call for anti-discrimination training in the horsedrawn-carriage industry at the urging of animal rights activist Martina Navratilova.

The disturbing video featuring a New York City horse-drawn carriage driver going off on an anti-gay, racist tirade has caught the attention of City Council Speak Christine Quinn.

Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova is a PETA member and her latest target is a New York tradition. After a video surfaced of ahorse-drawn carriage driver shouting homophobic and racist slurs, Navratilova used that incident to push for the carriages to be removed from the streets.